Yesterday's mysterious baking - all done by Harriet with the odd bit of moral support from us - was a fine batch of croissants!
The recipe is from Mastering the Art of French Cooking: v. 2, and Julia Child and Simone Beck take ten pages to explain the procedure, complete with illustrations and diagrams, so these are not something you can throw together in an idle moment.
Over around twelve hours there was mixing, rising, rolling in the butter, resting, turning, shaping, and so on, the bin bag and bath towel I referred to yesterday being specified as coverings for the bowl during the first and second rises.
Eventually they were baked (imagine the smells coming from the kitchen) and sampled last night almost straight from the oven, most of them being enjoyed for breakfast this morning.
Why go to all that trouble for something you can find in any supermarket? Because the process is interesting, the results worthwhile, and the sense of achievement Harriet got from it not inconsiderable.